When I was about five years old I had a story book called “Button Soup,” which was the Disney version of the classic tale “Stone Soup.” In the story, Daisy Duck, who was down on her luck, started a soup with water and one button. As the story progressed, she coaxed Scrooge McDuck into adding ingredients (carrots, peas, beef, herbs etc...) to the huge pot of simmering soup. As each ingredient was added, the soup grew more & more delicious. I loved reading this book, or rather having it read to me, while imagining all the different & wonderful possibilities which the world of cooking had to offer.

Over the years, my appreciation for food grew by leaps & bounds. Due to my fondness for experimentation, I became known by my family as the “brother who ate odd things.” Whether it was foreign cuisine, pickled pig's feet, or anchovies on pizza, there was little I wouldn’t try, and little which I rejected once I had tried it, as long as it was prepared well.

Now it’s true that because I go to specialty stores such as New Seasons, Trader Joe’s & Pasta Works to buy wine & cheese, and I buy fresh coffee instead of Folgers, I’ve been labeled as a bit of a food snob. However, while I do seek quality and I’m careful about what I spend my money on, one of my favorite meals is Campbell’s tomato soup & a grilled cheese sandwich . As I said, as long as something’s prepared well there’s little I’ll reject.

It occurred to me that if people going to read my food blogs, it's only fair for them to know my preferences & leanings, where food is concerned. The following answers, along the right side, will help you (the reader) determine if you & I are on the same epicurean page, so to speak.

Along the left side below, you'll find links to print friendly text versions of some of my favorite recipes. I've collected cookbooks & recipes from many sources for years, and have even written some recipes of my own. Having collected them for so long, I don't recall where I found each & every recipe, but credit has been given whenever possible. Recipes labeled with an * were written by me.

Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly,
Anthony Bourdain's Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook,
Gordon Ramsay's Humble Pie,
Gabielle Hamilton's Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef,
Julia Child's My Life in France

I'll try anything once.
If it's prepared well, I'll probably like it.Tips are earned with good service, they're NOT automatic.Good food should please all the senses.

Most people only apply this last rule to gourmet cuisine, but there’s no reason it can’t be applied to everyday fare as well. Of course, no one's advocating taking the time to garnish your plate of bacon & eggs each morning, but if the bacon‘s soggy & gray and the eggs are oozing around the plate it’s not going to be an appetizing breakfast. We can even apply this rule to something as simple as tomato soup & a grilled cheese sandwich.

A Grilled Cheese Sandwich & Tomato Soup For The Senses

Sight:

The grilled cheese sandwich should have a nice golden toasty color to the bread with the cheese barely showing all the way around the edge's center, and the soup should be opaque, possessing a deep red tomato color. Flecks of fresh ground black pepper resting on the soup's surface are optional but desirable.

Sound: True, you don’t usually think of hearing soup, but when you put some on your spoon and let it fall back into the bowl it should sound deeper than water hitting water, and the sandwich should have a slight crunch when biting into it.

Tactile Sensation: The soup needs to feel warm & creamy as it first coats the tongue then slides down the throat, plus the cheese needs to deliver a melted creamy texture.

Aroma: The room should be filled with a slightly peppery yet rich tomato bouquet combined with the pleasing scent of toasted bread and cheese.

Taste: A mild cheese flavor coupled with that of the toasted bread should compliment the faintly peppery (not spicy) rich tomato flavor of the soup.